Dear colleagues,
Greetings and hello to all. I am the Vice Chair of your Faculty Senate for 2023-24. I hope you have had the chance to read Chair Dougherty’s welcome message and that you will take a moment to familiarize yourself with the various spaces of shared governance and how they represent you.
The full Senate meets every month, and I will be writing after each meeting with a summary of the business at hand. This e-mail contains that summary (below), but I would also like to take the opportunity to say that we work for and are accountable to you. Senate meetings are open to the public, recorded, and conducted on Zoom, so you are welcome to attend and see part of our process. Agendas, recordings and minutes are all available online. An easy way for you to be heard is via your elected Faculty Senator. Senators may solicit constituent feedback on specific issues, and you can also talk with them more generally about what you would like to see happening.
I also hope that you might consider running for election as a Senator at some point, or serving your school and/or the University on a Council whose charge aligns with your interests. It’s a great way to meet service-oriented colleagues from all over the tri-campus system, to interact with our President, Provost and other leaders, and contribute to institutional change. I’m happy to talk more with you about the work; please reach out if you are interested.
In the first full meeting of the Faculty Senate yesterday, 10/12/2023, the following issues were discussed. The agenda is here.
- President’s and Chair’s remarks. Remarks included the good news of the appointment of three inaugural Faculty Liaisons who will undergo training to help faculty involved in dispute resolution.
- Reports from our Faculty Legislative Representative (including salary data); the Chair of the Senate Committee on Planning and Budgeting; and the Secretary of the Faculty. Reports can be read in the agenda.
- Approval of nominees for Faculty Councils and Committees.
- Initial review of Class A legislation related to qualifications for the Secretary of the Faculty. Last year, Class A Legislation 170 was passed, removing the requirement for the Secretary of the Faculty to be tenured and thus opening the position up to Teaching Faculty. The legislation currently under review corrects a corresponding part of the Faculty Code which mentioned qualifications, thus aligning code chapters. Legislation can be read in the agenda.
- Welcoming our new Provost, Tricia Serio, into shared governance at the UW. Provost Serio expressed her deep admiration for the UW community and her commitment to shared governance.
- Budget education. The Senate heard presentations from Sarah Hall, Vice Provost of planning and budgeting, and Fred Nafukho, Vice Provost of academic personnel. VP Hall presented an overview of UW budgets to help senators understand the processes particularly as they relate to salary decisions. VP Nafukho presented a summary of key policies governing salary increases, with a focus on unit adjustment analysis. Slides are available upon request.
We welcome your engagement on these and other issues as we work together to create, improve, and sustain the best possible working and learning environment for all.
Sincerely,
Louisa Mackenzie, Vice Chair, Faculty Senate